Just was looking along the board of whether you’d save a stranger or your own dog and a couple people mentioned that they’d never risk their lives for a stranger in the first place.

Got me thinking. I don’t think I could ever be brave enough to risk killing myself to save someone I’d never even met. Even if it was family I still doubt I’d have the guts to do it, though I’d like to think I could.

What do you think? Say the stranger is drowning, and you’re not an amazing swimmer. There’s a good chance you can both make it back to shore, but there’s also a good chance they’ll drag you down and you’ll both drown.

Yeah. The most important thing I want for my life is for it to be meaningful. That seems like a good use of my life, a good reason for risk. I hate taking stupid risks but I will take large risks for important things. Human lives are important to me, and so is a culture in which we can know that we’ll look out for one another. So, yes.

Nobody ever says on their deathbed: “I regret doing too much for others and honoring my ideals excessively. My life was too meaningful. Damn it! I should have tried to make and spend more money, strived harder for social status and watched more TV instead…”

I would hope that my instincts would kick in and I would do what I could at that moment…so yes, I think I would risk my life to save a person, but ONLY if I thought we could both make it alive! Otherwise…sorry buddy!

In the other thread I said I would hypothetically save the human but in a real world situation if I went to the beach tomorrow and someone was drowning I would not jump in to save them. I am not a strong swimmer and have actually almost drowned twice in my own life so I have no business trying to drag a grown ass adult out of the water.

Honestly I think it would depend on the situation. Run to stop somone falling in the path of an oncoming train? Yes. Try to stop somone with a gun from shooting an innocent bystander? No.

It would depend on the situation I guess I would not run into a burningin building to save a stranger unless I was 100% confident I could save them. Same with drowning and swimming id have to be pretty damn confident I could save them but usually in those situations aren’t you all pumped with adrenaline?

@ZebraPrintMe: No, I wouldn’t. If it was my husband, similar to @HappySky7:, I would jump in front of a train to save his life. A stranger though? No. Call me callous, but I don’t care enough about folks I don’t know to risk losing my own life (I still have a lot I want to do, and there are a lot of people I love and want to spend more time with).

There are people meant to save strangers – cops, firefights, soldiers, paramedics, etc. They are trained, they obviously have the personality for it, and they are being paid. I am just a regular person and obviously not brave or selfless enough to sacrifice myself for someone I don’t even know. Yes, this applies to babies, kids, adults, whoever.

It depends on the situation, so I didn’t vote. I am a good swimmer so I feel pretty certain I’d try; I definitely would if it was a child drowning. I feel about 70% sure I would risk my life for an adult stranger, but not 100% sure, to be honest. I hope I would, though, because it’s the noble thing to do. But, I wouldn’t want my husband to lose his life trying to save someone else, and I’m sure he would feel the same way about me. It’s truly a difficult question to answer.

I highly value human life above animal life, but that’s not to say I don’t absolutely and entirely love and value animals as well. I just believe that because human beings have the potential to change the world, have minds, souls and intelligence above the level of animals (well, most do) and a much longer life span, that a human life is more worth saving than an animal’s. I would hope never to have to make a choice, though, because I feel animal life – as well as plant and all other life on earth – is valuable. Nature is valuable. But humans are above, in my opinion.

@Sunfire: +1. That is my thinking too. I would not want my husband to ever risk his own life, wellbeing, or safety for a stranger. God, I’d be pissed if anything happened to him to save some person we don’t know. I have no doubt in my mind he feels the same way about me. We have had this conversation and while we would both call for help, we would not risk losing our life together. It means too much.

@Sea_Ashley: But that’s just it, you never know. They got themselves into a life threatening situation so by that very nature, it could be life threatening to you too. There is a news story I heard about that always sticks with me. There was a car stranded on the side of the highway, so a gentleman decided to pull over and help. He left his toddler in the car. It seems that folks drive where they look and everyone also seems to rubberneck. A car crashed into his and killed his toddler. Try explaining that to your wife.